KUKA is the world's largest manufacturer of automobile manufacturing robots. In 2009, 80% of the company's revenue came from the automotive robot business, but now this proportion has dropped to 50%. This is mainly because the growth rate of robot market in automobile industry is only 3% to 5%, while the growth rate of robot market in all other industries is above 10%.
For this reason, KUKA hopes that after being acquired by China Midea Company, the company can realize transformation and expand into other faster-growing robot markets. Midea announced the formal completion of the acquisition of KUKA at the beginning of June 65438+ 10 this year, and currently holds nearly 95% of the shares of KUKA.
According to Reuters, this means that KUKA will enter small flexible robots used in electronic manufacturing and logistics warehouses, robots that can help car owners charge electric vehicles, and even robots that can help the elderly live independently.
Reuters said: "We hope to maintain the leading position in the automotive robot market, but at the same time we also see that other robot markets are growing faster."
Analysts said that the China market is the key for KUKA to realize this diversification strategy. China is the largest and fastest growing automation market in the world. According to the data of the International Federation of Robotics (IFR), China's robot sales accounted for about13 of the global sales, with a growth rate of 27% last year, much higher than that of Europe (12%) and America (8%).
To this end, Reuters visits Midea's Foshan headquarters every month and keeps close contact with Midea's Chairman and CEO Fang Hongbo. Last year, KUKA ranked the top three in the robot market in China with a share of 14%. "Our goal is to become a market leader in China," Reuters said.
At present, KUKA's annual income in China market is 500 million euros (about 588 million US dollars). However, Reuters predicts that it will exceed 1 billion euros (about165438+76 million USD) in 2020.
China's industrial robotization is the core of the grand plan of "Made in China 2025", and the China government has set corresponding targets for increasing the proportion of robots made in China. Meanwhile, governments all over China are subsidizing the purchase of robots.
Royte said: "Now KUKA has become a member of the big family of Midea, and Midea is helping us win more shares in the China market."